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A Path From Charleston

What happened in Charlotte is an extension of the hate we allow to fester in the recesses of this world. These deaths are an outrage, they are not the tool of politics or politicians. When people turn to murder for an ideology there are no grey areas. Hate is taught, it can be untaught, but we should not plant that seed in the first place.

When a man thinks he can pick up a gun, he has already walked down a path we could have avoided. He may be a cold-blooded killer but we must ask question of how he came to be the vile killer of 9 innocent people. These people were quietly pursuing their faith when they were slaughtered, but why?

Hate is created, we mix it into our word every single day. We allow those of all backgrounds to walk amongst us preaching hate, we allow those seeds to be planted. We should be able to answer this, we should be able to end these outrages. It’s not as simple as gun control, it’s about all of us standing together and saying no more. No more will we let you germinate your violent ideologies, no more will we stand silently, no more will be upset and angry as long as the news cycle runs

There is a quote about the Holocaust that springs to mind and should be rooted deeply in the psyche of all humanity.

It took a few thousand to do this, but a whole continent to let them.

Our silence is part of the collective problem. Our lack of confrontation with the people who would watch the world burn to reserve the few who tick the ethnic box, the religious check list is the space that they grow in. While we must always allow free speech we should also use ours.

We can all name occasions where we let a hate crime happen without a response, where we didn’t speak up, where we let someone be abused. What have we done to shape the minds of the ext generation? When collectively as a whole world we can answer these questions with pride the balance will be right.

We may never end the violence of the one gunman, but we can work against the conveyor belt that some would make.

Once again I hear the words of Primo Lei, and later JFK calling.

IF NOT US, WHO?

IF NOT NOW, WHEN?

Let this be the day when we all commit to a better word and a more beautiful idea, let this be the day these lost lives, these slaughtered innocents changed the future of humanity. We can’t go on like this.